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Golf Warm Up Exercises

By: Patrick Attlee Click author's name for more of his/her articles

Warming up before teeing off is something every golfer, whatever their level should do before every round. The exercises do not need to be too complicated but they should loosen up your muscles which will make your swing much freer.

The following are few simple warm up exercises you can perform prior to teeing off.

Choose a club about the same length as your arm. Hold the club by the head and place the grip into your armpit. The shaft of the club will run down the length of your arm, stretching your arm and shoulder. The club should be pointing straight up in the air. You can then gently bend forward, engaging your abdominal muscles as you pivot forwards to protect your lower back. This will loosen your lower back which is crucial for the golf swing. Hold this for thirty seconds before coming up slowly exhaling all the way. You should then switch sides and repeat the process. You can do this exercise a few times until you back, shoulders and arms feel nice and loose. To get the swing action nice and loose, select two irons and use them both at the same time to practice your full swing motion, both back and down swings. The extra weight of the clubs will really help to loosen your body.

Another exercise that you should also do (Jack Nicklaus does it and if is good enough for him then it is good enough for you and I). To do this, hold a club horizontally at each end behind your back. You should then imagine you are playing a full stroke but keep your hands and arms holding the club behind your back. This gives your back an intense stretch and will help prevent straining the muscles of your back when you hit your first shot for real.

Another thing that really helps is to get a lot of freshly oxygenated blood pumping around your body. For this we will borrow an ancient yoga breathing exercise. You can do this locked in the bathroom in the club house if you feel self conscious doing it on the first tee! Stand with your feet together and interlock your fingers underneath your chin, bringing your elbows to touch. Now slowly inhale through your nose for a count of ten. On the inhale breath, raise the elbows but keep your interlocked fingers under the chin. At the ten count, slowly exhale exhale for ten counts. As you exhale tilt your head back and slowly bring your wrists, arms and finally elbows to touch in front of you. Then on the inhale open your elbows and bring them slowly up to the vertical again. The main benefit of this is to flood your muscles with highly oxygenated blood which will energize you for the game. The other added benefit is loosening your neck and arm muscles.

Hopefully these tips help in your warm up and lead to a better round of golf, and maybe, dare to dream it, a lower score!

Article Source: ABC Article Directory

About The Author: Patrick has been hacking away at golf courses nation-wide for over twenty years. He has noticed a big improvement in his game since he started sleeping on his new twin memory foam mattress and he is now an advocate for visco elastic memory foam mattress technology.